Hero of Sparta Review: The First iPhone Classic

App Name:	Hero of Sparta
Platforms:	iPhone, iPod Touch
Publisher(s):	Gameloft
Genre(s):	action adventure
Release Date:	December 9, 2008

For anyone looking for a console gaming experience on their iPhone, Gameloft is the company to beat. Though an obvious imitation of a popular genre game, Gameloft’s Hero of Sparta delivers the console experience. And with its recent price drop, it offers a reasonably priced, action-filled adventure and a fair bit of (virtual) button-mashing fun.

I must confess, I had to approach this review from the lens of history. Hero of Sparta launched in December 2008—literally on “last gen” iPhone technology. So the following review takes into account the fact that many strides have been made in iPhone gaming since its release, including many taken by Gameloft itself with their subsequent titles.

That said, how does Hero of Sparta hold up against its competition in the modern App Store? Surprisingly well, a testament to its clean and playable design.

Hero of Sparta is, like most Gameloft games, an imitation; in this case, the game is clearly meant to be PS2’s popular God of War. As such, you get a setting, a hero, and a game very reminiscent. In Hero of Sparta, you play Argos, a Spartan king who finds himself mysteriously washed ashore on a magical island full of evil creatures and even legendary monstrosities. You must guide Argos across the sea in search of answers, powerful weapons, and a greater destiny. The plot is thinner than God of War’s, and serves mainly to connect the levels. Still, it’s interesting enough to carry the game.

The controls are straightforward: virtual stick for movement, one button for attacking, another for blocking/using shield special attacks. To add variety, however, there are a handful of different gesture challenges at key moments–mostly swiping in the direction indicated or tapping points in sequence–that deliver either special killing blows or counters to special monster attacks. It all plays very smoothly, and hacking your way through levels is a pretty straightforward affair.

And those levels? They’re a bit tough. There’s seven of them, all told, each one a combat heavy hack-fest. Hero of Sparta throws a lot of enemies at you, and it spaces out healing fountains–your only real source of regenerating health–pretty far apart. Be prepared to die early and often. That’s okay, though, because there are plenty of checkpoints as you progress and an unlimited (and inconsequential) ability to try again from those points. So don’t worry about your life meter; just dive in with your sword and hack away.

As you go along, you pick up legendary weapons and crystals to supercharge them. These more powerful tools don’t bring with them any new moves, but they do hit harder and carry with them fun legendary names like the Sword of Damocles.

The graphics in Hero of Sparta are certainly less impressive than any given PS2 title. Everything is a flat, textured polygon–Argos’s face is literally just pasted on–and this is most evident in the cinematic cut scenes, less noticeable during game play. Gameloft has upped their game since Hero of Sparta’s release–the graphics certainly don’t look as good as, say, their recent Zombie Infection. This doesn’t detract from playing, though it detracts a bit from the cutscene story elements.

Ultimately, Hero of Sparta is still a great game, one that delivers a satisfying action adventure crunch even 18 months (and a new iPhone) later. At its current price of $1.99 as of this review, it’s a great value (it was $9.99 when it released in December 2008). If you’ve ever had an interest in playing the title, now would be a great time to get it, as the release of Hero of Sparta 2 is imminent.

Our score: 4 out of 5.

Hero of Sparta is available for $1.99 in the App Store at the time of this review.

About the Author

Writer@Large Brian P. Hudson is an educator and freelance writer currently living in Dearborn, MI.

 

Best Free Apps of the Day!